Clouds on the Horizon
by Voleste
Summary: Until a few months ago, Karakura Town had been the perfect place to hide in. The decision of a teenager wanting to protect his family at all costs didn't seem to be such a trivial one for the world as it was for himself, but it affected the world of the living nevertheless; and the worlds beyond it. Hirako Shinji knew something was up and simply couldn't leave it alone.
1. Chapter 1

It's been years since I uploaded to , bit sad there's still no author's note option.

Bleach ended and I thought about all the good memories it gave me; one of them was my first ever fanfic. Writing that fanfic had been the start of a lot of fanfic writing, original writing and Nanowrimo'ing since then and I'm a little sad at my past self for abandoning that fic just a few chapters in. So, seven years later, I decided to write it again - with the little bit of old plot I could remember and a whole lot of new. I'm a little rusty when it comes to Bleach fanfic, so feel free to hit me over the head if things feel off.

Even though it starts around the Soul Society arc, I'm writing this now with the knowledge of all arcs that succeeded it, so there will be some spoilers in the story if you haven't read further after the anime ended.

* * *

There was something comforting about the silence of the city in the late evening. It was almost peaceful without the chatter and noise that humans brought with them; there was only rustling of wind and isolated footsteps, the sound carrying far in the empty streets.

Almost peaceful, because he couldn't shake the feeling that something strange was going on; stranger than the past few months that this town had experienced. In his opinion, this place had seen its fair share of crazy lately.

A girl sped past by him, clearly in a rush. He paid her no mind; his attention was drawn to something else, moving in the shadows. He narrowed his eyes at it, as if that would help him distinguish the moving shape from the shadows of the night. The thing in the shadows must have noticed him, because it stood still. He sighed. He was getting worked up about nothing; but to be frank, he thought he was entitled to be a little on edge.

His mind sensed it sooner than his body did. Shinigami, two of them. He flash stepped away from the source, putting in a good few miles between him and their sudden presence. These were different from the reaper that had been patrolling Karakura Town lately; it had been hard not to notice him, with the way he paraded all over town, leaking _reiatsu_ everywhere. That spiritual power of him was enormous and hardly in control. He had seen a glimpse of him once. Or rather, his huge zanpakuto. He had never seen a big sword like that before; not in its sealed state. It made no sense.

What were they teaching the youngsters in school lately? Ever since that reaper had come, it only attracted Hollows towards itself. Rather counterproductive. He scoffed. They sure were slumming, back there.

The reiatsu of two people was flaring, although one had a certain unfamiliar _tinge_ to it, and then it was snuffed out. A fight between reapers? He was almost curious to check it out, but reason and instinct told him _no_. It was time to go back home.

* * *

It was quiet when he returned. Of course it was; at this hour, not many of them would be up. The kitchen however wasn't empty. The person occupying it leant against the kitchen counters, bringing a mug to his mouth.

"Shinji," the person said, greeting him before even looking up.

He grinned slightly. "Evening, Rose. You're up late."

Rose ran a hand through his hair, momentarily frowning as his fingers brushed past a tangled lock. He set his mug aside. "You were _out_ late," he pointed out. Rose's subtlety was as graceful as his looks, and if Shinji hadn't known him for a while, he'd never picked up on the hint of disapprovement in his voice.

"Got distracted," he replied, wandering over to the kettle and holding a finger against it. Pleased to note it was still warm, he grabbed a cup himself and fished Rose's tea bag out of the man's mug. He sniffed at it. Not his favourite flavour, neither his favourite way of making tea, but it would have to do.

Rose simply took a seat at the worn table, watching him.

"I'm thinking of paying Kisuke a visit," Shinji said. He threw the tea bag in the sink. Picking up Rose's mug as well as his own, he joined Rose at the table.

"Why?"

Rose eyed him and pulled the mug closer to him.

He gave a shrug. "Nothing to worry your pretty head about, Rose," he drawled.

Rose let out a sigh. "Shinji."

His grin slipped away. "Nothing important, really. I just want to know if he knows more than we do. The things happening in town ain't exactly _normal._ Last week, we saw a Menos Grande. 'Cause of that new guy, I bet. He's leaving behind a freaking cookie trail for the Hollows to pick up."

"I noticed. There are odd powers at play here… types of reiatsu I didn't recognise. Human, but far stronger than possible. And I think I sensed a Quincy the other day."

Shinji blanched. "You're pulling my leg. They're extinct!"

"I know. Like I said. Things have been odd, lately."

He took a sip from his tea. He suddenly remembered something. "That's right, Rose… haven't you met a few of the surviving Quincy?"

"Hmm-hm," Rose confirmed. "If meeting them means the same as spying on them. I think they never even realised, or simply pretended we weren't there. Either way, it was an unpleasant situation. I had been fresh out of the academy, too."

"You'd think they used the special forces for that kind of stalking."

"I believe they had other matters to deal with. However, I cannot remember what it was."

They settled into a comfortable silence. With as loud as this group of people could become, Shinji appreciated these times. There were eight of them, including himself, and it was rarely quiet. He didn't mind them - not in the slightest - but sometimes it was the peace and quiet he needed, not the loud and brash company he was usually in.

The noise of rain tapping on the roof interrupted them. Rose looked up, slowly, then checked the time. "Come on," he said, not unkindly. "Leave your thoughts for the morrow."

His mouth twitched. "Didn't know you cared that much about little old me. I'll come soon. Gonna rinse out the cups first." He gestured vaguely with his hand.

Rose lifted an eyebrow.

"What's with that face?" Shinji complained. He got up from his chair. "You're not going to wait until I'm finished, are you? Go to sleep already, if you want to. Don't hover around me."

Rose just gave him something that could technically pass for a smile and left the room, leaving him alone.

* * *

Finding his old friend was harder than he thought it would be. He hadn't seen the fellow in years. Oh, he knew where to look; he had had a shop for at least a few decades, which he had visited at least a couple times. But when he remembered where the shop was located and arrived, the place was - well. Rather deserted.

Shinji looked up at the sign. It _did_ read Urahara Shoten. This was where he should be. But there was no sign of life; the door was firmly locked and he saw no movement inside.

So he had come back another day without success. Trying another few days later resulted in the same outcome. He grew frustrated. Something was up.

However, Shinji could be patient if he wanted to - a skill he had practised and honed for the past hundred years - and foolhardy, and he didn't stop trying.

It was no less than the sixth time in two weeks that he passed Urahara Shoten. For once, there actually was someone in front of the place.

"Oi, kid," he called.

The child looked up. Shinji mentally dubbed her the shy girl the moment he saw her face; jeez, you'd think she was scared he'd eat her or something. Emerging from the shadows came another child, joining the first one; to his slight surprise they were wearing matching shirts. When did Kisuke turn this place into a daycare?

"Where's the owner? You're from this place, ain't you?" He said, gesturing towards the sign on the store.

"Who's asking?" the boy challenged him.

Shinji sauntered over to the pair. "An old friend."

The boy pointed his broom at him. "Yeah, right. I've never seen you before."

He grinned at them. "That's why I said _old_ friend."

The boy didn't seem to believe him and approached him, wielding the broom as if it were a weapon.

"Jinta-kun," the girl tried to interrupt.

Right, the girl. He had forgotten about her. He might have more success with her than with the boy. The boy didn't seem to like him all that much. Perhaps actually being nice would help also. "Oi, do you perhaps know where Kisuke might be?"

He saw Jinta lowering his broom slightly.

"He's busy," he said. "Come back later."

"Ah, but I'm a customer. Surely you can't deny a customer your services."

"Shop's closed."

Urgh. Maybe he should have approached this differently.

"Look, kiddo, just get the boss. Or Tessai."

Jinta didn't seem to be all that impressed. "And I told you to come back later."

"But maybe we should - "

"No buts, Ururu!" Jinta interrupted her, threatening to hit her with the broom instead.

The door of Urahara Shoten opened; Shinji straightened his back.

"Now now, Jinta, Ururu," a man said. "That's no way to behave in front of a guest." He smiled widely at Shinji and inclined his head.

"Welcome to Urahara Shoten, Hirako-san."

He gave the man an unimpressed look. "Gee, Kisuke. Your memory's bad as ever." Then, on a more serious tone: "I've got a few questions I suppose you won't mind answering."

Kisuke still smiled. "But of course. With the recent events in mind I had actually expected you earlier. Come in."

He made a noise as he followed Kisuke into the store, idly picking up a gaudy looking pamphlet, looking only briefly at it. Printed in red and bold it read 'smells like bad spirits.' He rolled his eyes and threw the pamphlet carelessly on top of a box, not bothered to read the rest of it. If this was going to be the new slogan for the shop, he and Kisuke were going to have a talk.

"I suppose you were busy, then. I can't remember how many times I've visited the place. I thought you packed up shop and moved somewhere else."

"Yes, I know," came Kisuke's cheerful answer. "We've got security cameras. Me and Tessai-san saw the video footage. I particularly enjoyed the part where you tried to find the back door."

Kisuke suddenly stopped and turned around. Shinji almost crashed into him. "We have no back door." His face was obscured by a fan, but Shinji was going to eat his tie if it wasn't hiding a grin.

"Get that thing out of my face. What exactly was so important that I couldn't reach you for two weeks?"

"Ah. I suppose showing is better than telling. You wouldn't believe me anyway. Come with me downstairs."

* * *

It was not an unfamiliar place for Shinji to be, but it was rather unsettling. He shoved it out of his mind.

"You redecorated," he noted. "What's that thing Tessai's working on?" He gestured towards a man with sunglasses handling a large object. It looked like a mirror of some sort, only ten times as bigger as a regular sized mirror would be, wrapped in something that looked like paper, but certainly wasn't it. Kido spells maybe, now that he thought about it.

It clearly wasn't finished yet; it missed a huge part of the frame at the top. Hang on...

"Is that - "

"We are building a _senkaimon_."

"Whatever for?" he exclaimed. " _You_ are banished and me and the rest of us presumed dead."

"I don't know about that. You can't rule out the possibility they know you're in hiding, rather than dead."

Kisuke was right, of course. Urahara Kisuke was usually right. Shinji himself was pretty sure they knew. Some of them, at least.

"It's not for you or me," Kisuke continued. "It's for Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends. They're on a rescue mission."

"Never heard of him."

"Not by name, no. But I suppose you have paid attention? Two, three months at the most, a shinigami appeared with incredibly reiatsu but severe lack of control? The Menos? Other people whose spiritual powers suddenly spiked enough to be noticeable?"

"'Course I did. That's what I wanted info about. But why are you helping them? Why do they need help to get into Soul Society at all?"

Shinji put his hands in his pockets, watching Tessai walking around the senkaimon over and over, murmuring something. He briefly entertained the thought of trying to enter the senkaimon when it was ready. Just to see if he could. It was a stupid thought, of course. It would be his own death sentence. Still, he wondered. It was a tempting idea. Maybe it was a good thing; he had no trouble imagining Hiyori slapping him if he ever voiced these thoughts. Probably a well-deserved slap for once.

He glanced sideways. Urahara Kisuke had said nothing at all, but that alone was telling.

"You've gotta explain that to me. What do you need from - whoever they are? This town has gone mad, Kisuke, I'd like to know why."

The senkaimon, if anything, had only raised more questions.

"Naturally, Hirako-san! How about we'll discuss it over tea?"

Kisuke's cheerful attitude was back. He didn't trust that attitude one bit.

"Fine. If you'll pour me something stronger than tea."

* * *

Apparently, tea was all he was going to get. Perhaps it was for the best; he had enough trouble wrapping his head around the story without alcohol dulling his senses. It wasn't that he hadn't been paying attention; it was just all so unbelievable.

"Transfer of powers, huh? I knew it was possible, but I don't remember any shinigami actually doing it. That Kuchiki has some guts. I can't say I remember them as the most forgivin' of the noble clans. But the noble families were always a bunch of stuck-up - "

"Now, they weren't all bad. I'm sure Yoruichi-san would agree, if she were here."

Kisuke filled their cups.

"Humans don't usually gain powers like that."

"Ah, but Kurosaki-san is an unusual fellow," said Kisuke. "My theory is that Kuchiki-san's power transfer awakened his own. The power he possesses himself is so massive he can't get it quite under control, and as a result, it affected his friends."

Shinji sighed.

"Don't try to make me believe there's such a thing as human shinigami. The Quincy, fine. The humans, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. A human shinigami? That's just crazy talk."

Kisuke set down his cup. "Who says he is? Kurosaki Ichigo has _Shiba_ blood in him."

He wanted to say a lot of things. All that came out however, was an incredulous "What?" as he was trying to fit the Shiba clan in the whole story. He quickly gave up. This was a puzzle with too many pieces missing.

"So it's just a bunch of humans running around. At least that's cleared up. What d'you gain from helping them?"

Urahara Kisuke wore an odd expression; as if he couldn't entirely decide how he felt about the whole ordeal; or more likely, how he felt about telling Shinji.

 _Then it must be something bad._ Something dreadful and sour came into existence in Shinji's body, moved from his stomach to his throat, and remained there. Something was not right. The entire story was not right.

"I need them to succeed," he said. "It is of the utmost importance that Kuchiki-san is brought back to the world of the living."

He bowed his head.

"I admit I made a mistake. I wanted to get rid of it permanently and I thought I had the perfect opportunity. Everything was playing out just fine, until they came to take her back. The bad news is - I've hidden the hougyoku in her soul."


	2. Chapter 2

"You're aware your son is a shinigami?"

Much to his credit, he didn't jump up when a voice addressed him, even though he had been completely alone. Apart from the stray cats, that was; but until now he had not counted them in being able to hold a conversation. Not the way humans did, at least. (They had, in fact, been fighting viciously over an abandoned cardboard box with presumably some food on it, judging the smell; he had half and half entertained the idea to cool them off with a bucket of water. He decided it was too much effort.)

He glanced back at his house, where his daughters were sleeping. The light in his son's bedroom was still on.

He walked further into the street, counting on it that it would follow him. And indeed it did, jumping up a low brick wall, yellow eyes peering expectantly at him.

"Who are you?"

The cat seemed to grin at him. "Oh, _right._ I never showed it to you before. Ah, I guess I never found the… perfect opportunity. I'm with Urahara Kisuke."

He raised his eyebrows. Urahara, huh. "That's all I get?"

"That's all you get for now," confirmed the cat. "Back to the question."

He eyed the cat once more. It seemed to pick up on his hesitation, because its tail swept down in annoyance. "Fine, fine. Come closer." When he did, the cat jumped on his shoulder and brought its face to his ear. "It's Shihouin Yoruichi."

He tried to look the cat in the eye.

"You don't believe me," the cat concluded.

"It's not that. I had wondered where you had gone to. Now I'm simply wondering how a former head of the Shihouin clan got herself stuck into the form of a cat," he said. "A _male_ cat. At least I got myself stuck with a pretty girl and _wonderful_ child- "

The cat had set its teeth in his ear.

"I'm not stuck. I'd prove it to you, but you'd only like the 's no fun in revealing myself if I don't get any shocked reactions."

"Are you implying I wouldn't be faithful to my dearest Masaki? How cruel!"

Yoruichi grumbled. "You're aware of your son?"

He sobered up.

"Of course. Considering who his parents are… I might not be able to feel his reiatsu, but I know it's there."

"We thought you had to know he'll be leaving in a couple days for the Soul Society. He has a strong sense of justice, your son. The shinigami who awakened his powers is being sentenced for death. He wants to save her. We're helping… Kisuke made a miscalculation. We need that girl back here."

"Oh, a girl?" he interrupted.

"I'll be going with him and his friends," Yoruichi continued, ignoring the remark. "Most likely, we'll be stopping by the Shiba clan for their cannon. It'd be a better idea than going straight through the gate, at least. Do you want me to tell them about Ichigo?"

"Oh, that's right. I don't suppose they know about my children."

He sighed and looked away from Yoruichi, watching the dark sky instead. As loud as it had been a couple days ago with all the fireworks in the sky, it was quiet now, and the only lights in the sky came from the stars.

"It's probably for the best," he finally said. "Kuukaku knows how to handle that sort of information - as long as she doesn't tell him. I think he needs to hear from his father. Anyway, it might make them more willing to help in the first place."

"My line of thinking exactly," said Yoruichi.

"Thanks for coming."

"It's nothing. Isshin, one other thing. Kisuke trained your son… but it didn't entirely go the way it was supposed to go. He suspects that Ichigo didn't just inherit shinigami powers."

"So… Quincy powers?"

Yoruichi winced.

"No. That of a Hollow's. We can ignore it for now, but Kisuke thinks it will only be a matter of time before he gets overwhelmed by it. I only got the brief explanation, so it doesn't make much sense to me, but he seems to think the Hollowfication is inherited rather than something that happened by chance. I'm not entirely sure what that means for Ichigo."

"I think I do. Good luck. Tell Kuukaku I said hi."

The cat jumped off the wall.

"I will."

* * *

When needed, Hirako Shinji had a lot of self control. He set his cup down gingerly and closed his eyes, processing the implications of the bomb Urahara just dropped.

"That's bloody fantastic. What makes you think a bunch of children can sneak into Seireitei and retrieve someone who is sentenced to death? Besides, since when is such a crime vile enough to warrant a death sentence? They must be completely off their rocker."

Urahara only looked at him.

"We must assume the worst."  
"Nice. And again, why are you counting on a group of kids?"

"Yoruichi will lead them."

Shinji growled.

"As capable as she is, it's still madness to think they'll make it out of there alive, let alone keeping the hougyoku out of his hands. I think you lost this round before you even started it."

He cast down his eyes. "Like I said. We have to assume the worst."

His remorse was genuine, and while Shinji had picked up on that, he wasn't feeling generous enough to forgive him right then and there. No matter how much he owed him.

"Damnit, Kisuke. What am I going to tell the others?"

"The truth. And tell them to get ready."

* * *

Delivering such news wasn't going to be easy, he thought. He was led out by the back door (It had apparently been hidden by kidou for all unless you knew where it was, no doubt a new fabrication by Tsukabishi Tessai) and simply stood still on the street for a few minutes.

He walked home the human way; it gave him more time to think.

In a way Urahara Kisuke had explained what had been going on lately, but he didn't count on leaving with even more questions. Apart from the scenario where Aizen got his filthy hands on the hougyoku, there were things that just didn't add up. The death sentence, for one. That should have been prison instead. Two months, three, tops. Maybe a stripping of rank if she was a seated officer - he wasn't sure. But this? No matter the feelings he harboured for the Soul Society, this was unnecessary even for them. It was not as if that Kuchiki girl was dangerous. According to Kisuke she could barely perform the easiest of kidou.

And that was another thing. Since when were they going to execute someone from the noble clans unless they were charged with high treason? He couldn't remember someone was executed at all, let alone someone from the noble class. Was Aizen behind this whole set-up? Or was he just getting paranoid? Sometimes it seemed those two thoughts blended together.

"Yo, Shinji! What's with that ugly face you're making?"

He looked up.

"Hiyori."

A short blonde stalked towards him and pulled on his tie as some sort of greeting.

"Ack! Hiyori, you're choking me - "

"Wimp."

She then stopped and looked around, taking in her surroundings. She frowned.

"What were you visiting him for? Rose said you were acting weird lately."

"Nothin'."

She looked unimpressed.

"That's not gonna work on me. Spill it out, baldy. Or I'll make you."

He shrugged and beckoned for her to follow him. "I'll tell you when we're back. It's something that concerns all of us."

"Or you can tell me now," she insisted. "If he's involved - "

"It's Aizen," he said. "Happy?"

He saw her tense, head sharply snapping towards him. "How d'ya mean, Aizen?"

They hadn't heard about Aizen in decades. Or rather, they didn't know what the man was up to. They were betrayed a hundred years ago, which was really quite a long time - and Aizen never moved further to his true goal. Whatever that was. Instead, Yoruichi repeatedly reported that Aizen seemed quite comfortable in his role as Captain of the Fifth Company. There were no strange accidents. No experiments on shinigami - none that she had heard of. (Not by Aizen, anyway; Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Kisuke's former subordinate was an entirely different story.)

Aizen was waiting. As such, so were they, but unlike Aizen they didn't know what they could expect.

"Kisuke thinks he'll make his move soon. I'll tell you about the details when we're back. All of us need to hear this."

"Fine," muttered Hiyori, settling into defeat for now.

They continued walking home in uncharacteristic silence.

"Hey Shinji."

He watched a bird flying high above their heads.

"Why are we walking?"

"Felt like it."

They didn't say anything after. They didn't have to.

* * *

Urahara wasn't entirely sure whether this would be a hopeless expedition. When had found Ichigo in the rain, together with his Quincy friend, he thought they would have no chance. But the Quincy had recovered, Ichigo's other two friends had been training their abilities with Yoruichi and Ichigo had made the most progress of them all. But even so, four teens and Yoruichi was not quite enough for a rescue mission.

They had time, but not all that much. He just hoped the Shiba's would be cooperative. As far as he had heard, they didn't have much reason to be.

He stared at the senkaimon. This was as far as he could go. This was all he could do. He failed. But it didn't mean Kurosaki Ichigo would fail; he was only fifteen, but he had potential. He really did. The boy had grown in just a few days and he would continue to do so on their journey, he was sure of that.

Was it going to be enough?

The senkaimon looked tempting. He lifted a hand. It had been a hundred years. Maybe - just maybe…

His fingers sizzled and burnt as they made contact with the portal. He clenched them into a fist to subdue the pain.

"It's all up to you… Kurosaki."

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Tessai."

Urahara stood there somberly for a few more seconds, before turning around, smiling brightly. He knew he wasn't fooling Tessai. Still, it had become a habit.

"Alright! Come on, there's work to do."

* * *

If Ichigo had thought that he could sneak out of the house quietly, he had been deadly wrong. Isshin wasn't just going to let him leave without a little goodbye.

(Admittedly, he had help from Yoruichi, who had swung by once more and told them when they were going to leave. In retrospect he hadn't needed the help with all the ruckus Ichigo had been making just now.)

For someone who was going to be traveling alone at the age of fifteen, leaving the house at one in the morning without any luggage to speak of… it was all a little fishy. However Isshin wasn't going to berate him on that; it was best for everyone if he kept up the façade of clueless father. At this point, he doubted that Ichigo would buy it, but he hadn't commented on it.

After seeing him off with a little lucky charm he checked in on his daughters; but neither Karin or Yuzu had been awoken by their brother's yelling.

Perhaps it was a good idea to check Ichigo's room to see why. He usually didn't get spooked that easily. Isshin contemplated for a bit before shrugging. It could wait. It could've been a spirit.

* * *

The following morning Yuzu got the fright of her life when she entered Ichigo's room to clean.

* * *

Ichigo was already becoming a handful, Yoruichi decided. His friends weren't so bad; they were naive but cautious and willing to listen to her. Ichigo just dived in without thinking. She hadn't really wanted to expose themselves; especially not to the likes of Ichimaru Gin.

It wasn't a surprise he had become Captain.

"So, what is this really about?" asked Kuukaku. She had been alone, drinking alcohol on the platform, until Yoruichi joined her. "With Urahara involved there must be an ulterior motive."

"It has to do with the hougyoku," Yoruichi said.

"Ah. That shinigami kid. He looks an awful lot like…"

Yoruichi bowed her head.

"He is Isshin's son."

"Oh? So he has children now?"

"Three of them. He says hello, by the way."

Kuukaku smiled. "It's good to hear from him."

She shoved the cup of sake into Yoruichi's direction, but she declined.

"I forgot. Want something else instead?"

"I'm good."

Kuukaku relaxed and stretched her legs.

"Does Ichigo know about his father's heritage?"

"No. His children have no idea he is a shinigami at all. He wants to keep it that way."

"Fair enough. Heh. So you weren't lying when you said he was an untrained shinigami. I found it hard to believe. He's really crap when it comes to controlling his reiatsu _._ I wonder if he'll be able to do it at all."

"I have faith in the boy," said Yoruichi, even though she was doubting it as well. But if Ichigo wanted to succeed, he simply must; and because he was so stubborn, he'd probably manage.

She wanted to ask Kuukaku if there was some food left after all.

That question was promptly whisked out of her mind as soon as the gulf of reiatsu hit her. That wasn't good. It was no doubtedly Ichigo's - but this was far from keeping the spiritual power in control. No, this was an incredible force, pushing its way out.

One of the pillars that held the Shiba Kuukaku banner was shaking slightly.

Kuukaku beside her scrambled up and ran back into the building. Yoruichi quickly followed. This was immense. If Ichigo learnt how to wield it better, they might have a good chance after all.

* * *

Waiting for news was one of the hardest things in life, even if you were technically dead. There was no way of knowing how Kurosaki and his merry band of friends were doing; the one person who could safely travel through to Seireitei and back had gone with them.

So while they were waiting, they were sparring, trying to bridge the time somehow. There wasn't much else to do. Until they came back from the Soul Society - if they came back at all - they couldn't set things in motion. There were too many different outcomes. That said, Urahara Kisuke already had a few plans in mind which he had shared with Shinji, but it was nothing definite.

"Hirako-san, don't you want to try?"

Shinji loosened and tossed his tie aside after it had been ripped to shreds by Urahara's zanpakuto. Granted, his shirt wasn't much better, but that at least didn't get in the way.

Kisuke hadn't come out of their match entirely unscathed, either.

"Try what? You mean my mask?"

"We'll save that for another day. I meant that."

He gestured vaguely towards the senkaimon.

Shinji was tempted to say the least. Exile had not been his verdict - he was supposed to be taken down, really, and he didn't want to think about what would happen if he was, as they had put it, being dealt with as a Hollow. There was not much point in banishing a dead person, was there? But he didn't know whether they were assumed dead or missing, and Soul Society probably didn't want to take any chances.

"Nah. I'll pass." He twirled his own sword.

"Sakanade agrees."

Kisuke almost skipped towards the senkaimon and patted the sides. "Nothing will happen if you don't get granted entry. I promise."

"I have a hard time believing you."

Nevertheless he walked over to the portal as well. It was ingeniously crafted. Shinji was no Hachi and probably couldn't fully appreciate the craftsmanship that had gone into it, but he was still impressed. Especially if you considered that it successfully let live humans go into the Soul Society - how did worked he didn't know. And he wasn't _that_ interested in it to ask Kisuke.

"I suppose this is one of those one-way only portals."

"We don't know for sure - we haven't tested it! But you - "

"No."

"Of course we won't send you in, Hirako-san. After all the trouble we went through to keep you and the others hidden, it'd be quite a shame to have you pop up in the Soul Society all of a sudden. Just try to touch it. It'd be useful to know regarding your status."

He eyed Kisuke warily. He sheathed his zanpakuto and lifted a hand towards the senkaimon. His hand went straight through it. He suddenly felt like an idiot; right now, he was just sticking his hand through a frame. He had been played. How embarrassing. Shinji quickly withdrew his hand.

Kisuke seemed to find it hilarious. Oh, but of _course_ he did. It must've been payback for utterly destroying his hat beyond recognition that it had ever been a hat.

"Oops! Forgot to activate it."

Shinji sent him a halfhearted glare.

"We can test if you want, though."

"Nah. I don't feel up to that. 'Sides, I don't believe they believe we're dead. I don't know what the Gotei 13 is told, but I doubt it was anything nice. Aizen played us all like Chopin played the piano; with subtlety and nuance. Aizen was someone buried under layers of fake _niceness_."

Kisuke raised an eyebrow.

"Don't give me that look, I got that phrase from Rose."

"Hardly subtle. If you think about it. But I give you nuance."

"Urgh."

Kisuke gave the senkaimon a pat. "Would you say no to some wine?"

"What kind? Oh, never mind, I'll drink anythin'."

* * *

And so another day passed. The date they would come back crept closer. Urahara was almost anxiously awaiting their return.


	3. Chapter 3

It happened while he was at work. That perhaps wasn't an odd thing - running a clinic was not exactly a nine to five office job - but the fact it happened was definitely noteworthy. He had been making an inventarisation of their stock on medicines and other supplies while his girls were tending to the few bedridden patients.

It was as if his senses had exploded. From the silent world he had gotten used to there was suddenly a cacophony of sounds - if you could compare it to that. He hadn't forgotten how full of spirits the World of the Living had been - of course not. But memories were just that, memories, and they couldn't have prepared him for the unexpected wave of spirits, their presence, and spiritual power everywhere. They weren't overwhelming an sich - they were overwhelming because for him, they hadn't existed for twenty years.

He quickly reeled in his own spiritual pressure, completely forgetting that he didn't have to.

"Dad? Is everything okay?"

One of his daughters peeked inside his office. Yuzu sounded worried.

He looked at the books he had knocked over.

"Nothing the matter, Yuzu!" He put up a huge grin.

His other daughter, Karin, had looked weirdly at him. Almost as if she was sizing him up. But it had quickly made place for a look of irritation, accompanied with an eyeroll.

"You heard the old man, he's just making a ruckus for no reason." She turned around. Yuzu ran after her.

"Karin! He could have gotten hurt!"

He was relieved his daughters left him alone and closed the door behind them. He wasn't entirely sure what this meant; he hadn't spoken to Urahara in a long while and the possibility of his powers returning had not come up in conversation. At least… not after Masaki passed away. They had both been sure that if anything, that would be the reason for his reiatsu to return. That, or Masaki would be overwhelmed by the Hollow anyway; but that had been extremely unlikely.

Neither possibility hadn't happened, and he had assumed that that was it. His reiatsu was lost. It hadn't mattered, though. He had been without them for quite a while now and he had a family to look after. All in all it was a nice life.

So the Hollow passed on to Ichigo instead. According to Yoruichi, that was the newest theory. But that - that didn't mean anything _good._

He opened the window; he really needed some fresh air. And perhaps a smoke.

* * *

"This is no time to be sleeping, Hiyori. Get up, lazy bum."

Hiyori lied flat on her back. She had just received a serious beating from two of her friends who had attacked her out of nowhere, at the same time. It had been Shinji's idea, something that must've crossed her mind as soon as he spoke. She sprung up despite her cuts and Hachi's protests and pointed her zanpakuto at him.

"It's your fault! Sending Rose and Lisa after me like they're dogs! I was having breakfast! _Breakfast!_ "

"I object to being called a dog," murmured Lisa, a blackhaired woman resting on a folding chair, thoroughly inspecting her glasses. "And you owe me. You broke these."

"That's your own fault for attacking me, Lisa! I owe you nothing!"

Lisa shrugged and pushed herself up. Between the three of them she had come out relatively unscathed. Her hair got singed and she had a minor cut on her arm, but that was nothing that couldn't be healed within a few seconds. It certainly made life easier if you were living with a kido master.

Rose on the other hand had gotten deeper cuts in both his arms, but not after he delivered a well aimed slash across Hiyori's torso. It had been unintentional, but it had still nicked her more than he would have liked. It had taken a few minutes before that had been healed. And Hiyori seemed to be a little pissed off about it.

Shinji pushed the sword away with his hand.

"Did it surprise ya?"

"What do you think?!"

"Good."

Hiyori spluttered. "Rose and I cut each other up! We never went that far unless it was for - you know."

He steered Hiyori towards the chair Lisa had left empty and sank down on the ground besides her.

"This is about Aizen, isn't it?" she asked, calmer than before.

He tipped his head back slightly. "Yes. When it comes to Aizen, we cannot be too careful. I don't think Kisuke can keep the hougyoku out of his hands. The guy's playing a long and patient game, but I think the bomb will drop soon. So we need to be ready. Just sparring won't be enough."

Hiyori stared moodily at her knees.

"I told them not to hold back. Aizen won't hold back, either."

She elbowed him in the face.

"Hiyori!" He tenderly touched his nose with his fingers. Her swing had not been hard enough to break it, but it hurt nevertheless.

"I hate it when you do things like this. You could've at least explained your plan beforehand. I didn't even have my zanpakuto when they suddenly came onto me!"

"Well, that's your own fault for not having it with you."

"My fault? How about your fault!"

A clapping noise interrupted them; Hiyori's head snapped into the direction of the noise.

"What is it, Rose?"

"Mashiro and Kensei came back with lunch. You must be hungry after all that fighting."

"And they both came back in one piece? Admirable."

But it was true; they both were hungry, even if Shinji hadn't actually taken part in the fight. The fight had lasted a good few hours after Rose finally called it quits. The three of them had been quite tired after that, not used to such a prolonged fight. Sure, they had been sparring regularly, but that was to keep themselves from rusty. They didn't exactly give it all they had, until now.

Their group had the same training ground as Urahara Kisuke had underneath his store, albeit a little smaller. Not that one would notice it; both training grounds were rather empty and the fields looked as if they were stretched into infinity. The sky was bright above them. In a way, Shinji preferred to be here rather than in the warehouse itself.

Hiyori left, grumbling and possibly plotting her revenge.

"Do you know more?" Rose asked, handing over an apple.

Shinji peeled off the sticker and stuck it on the chair.

"No. Kisuke says they can come back any moment, though. He'd contact me when that happens. Maybe they did succeed in securing the hougyoku. But it's been about a hundred years. Even if they do manage, maybe Aizen is close to figure it out himself without needing Kisuke's hougyoku."

Rose sank into the chair. "I do wonder how Urahara knows about all that. About Aizen, I mean. And his plans."

Shinji shrugged and bit into the apple. "Who knows. It's Kisuke."

"Fair point."

They really were indebted to Kisuke. If not for him they were dead. The man had explained what the hougyoku was in the first place and what kind of role it had played in securing and stabilising his souls. It was sheer luck that Kisuke had been there and was able to help them; none other in the Gotei 13 would have managed, he was sure of that.

But he did wonder why Kisuke had held onto the hougyoku for decades after that.

"It wasn't very nice to surprise Hiyori like that," Rose suddenly said. "Why'd you choose her to be first?"

Shinji sighed. "'Cause Aizen isn't very nice, either. And you know her. Out of all of us, she is the one who has her emotions least under control. Aizen likes to play with that. That's the kind of guy he is. So she has to realise that she'll have to face him rationally, when we get the chance."

"Do you think attacking her randomly would help? She didn't seem very rational this morning. With good reason, I might add."

He finished the apple and tossed the remainders of it into the barren field.

"Not sure. Don't know what else would help."

He saw Rose watching him skeptically, before switching over to a bored expression. "Try talking to her."

"Yeah, right," Shinji scoffed. "I'd get a slipper to my head before I even get the word emotions or _feelings_ out of my throat."

"Not that that stops you from anything."

"True," he had to admit. He pulled himself up. "Fine, I'll talk to her. Although I think I'll wait until tomorrow. She doesn't seem to be too happy with me right now."

Rose smiled a bit. "When does she ever?"

"Eh. That's just how it works."

Perhaps his relationship with Hiyori _was_ a little strange. They didn't really act like friends as friends usually would. But there was a lot of history between them and a lot of trust. Trusting one another was not an easy task, especially not after everything they had been through. He stopped trusting a lot of people; or rather, he never truly trusted them to begin with. But Hiyori was an exception. The rest of the group he trusted as well - it was only natural, after being exiled and hunted down and having no one but each other. But it started with Hiyori.

Urahara Kisuke however was another story. He had done a lot for them, sure. He was grateful for that. If anything, that was probably the man he should trust the most. But Shinji couldn't. Not entirely; there were just things he didn't understand about that man. He considered him a friend and would discuss delicate subjects and even do things for him, but trust was just a bit too much to ask for.

* * *

Isshin found his son's reiatsu to be oddly disturbing. Almost as if it was familiar, although it couldn't be. Maybe it just took a while to get used to it. Ichigo's spiritual pressure was a lot higher than both of his daughters combined; and it seemed Karin had better control over her powers than hid his smile behind the book he was reading. Son thought he could sneak inside without saying hello, huh?

If he thought he had fooled everyone with that mod soul in his body, he was wrong. He suspected that even Yuzu and Karin were aware that their brother wasn't entirely being himself. The mod soul had done his best to pretend to be Ichigo, he had given him that, but it was still rather obvious.

So Ichigo was back. Whatever happened with the Hollow, it seemed it wasn't giving him any trouble. He put his book aside and got up; it was time to welcome Ichigo properly.

* * *

For the Visored it had been a few tiring days. After the initial shock Hiyori got when two of her friends suddenly attacked her, she took Shinji's plan to heart. Little alliances were formed and all of them tried to attack each other when the other was off guard. It was _exhausting._ However, and none of them could deny that, it was a good way to get back into a regular rhythm of fighting and honing their skills. They hadn't been as alert as they had been and their reaction skills weren't as great either.

Within two days, all of them started to carry their zanpakuto everywhere, just in case.

It lasted about a week before Lisa asked for a time-out; her reserve pair of glasses had also met an untimely death and she wasn't about to spend all her money on buying new ones.

Upon Shinji's comment that Aizen wouldn't wait either until she came back from the opticien she had just nudged Hiyori, who never let an opportunity pass to hit Shinji in the face.

Nevertheless, Shinji agreed with the time-out and Kensei offered to make time-tables instead. All of them were on edge, now; it was good for a short duration of time, but it wouldn't have to continue much longer. Shinji secretly suspected it was because he had grown tired of Mashiro's rather impressive kicks.

They agreed on a time-table, though and peace settled once again in the warehouse. (As far as peace went in that place. No matter how close they had become, there were still personalities that clashed and comfortable silence was not something you'd find, unless it was late at night.)

It _was_ night, in fact. They were all fast asleep, even if Shinji had fallen asleep on a sofa instead of his own bed.

The sofa wasn't very comfortable however and he suddenly got aware of himself, waking up for no reason. He kept his eyes closed however, for he was still tired, and completely prepared to doze off again. That was, until the weight on his stomach began to _move_. He blearily opened his eyes.

The cushions on the sofa had fallen on the ground; instead he was looking at two yellow eyes, staring solemnly at him - and way too close for comfort.

"Don't you dare yell," the yellow eyes told him.

He took a breath, managed to keep himself from making a sound and shooed the cat away.

"Get out, Yoruichi. I'm sleepin'."

He grabbed a cushion from the ground, put it under his head and closed his eyes again, half and half thinking he was dreaming in the first place. The cat scratched him.

Okay. Okay. Not a dream.

He sat upright and stared at her.

"What?" he hissed, keeping his voice down. He glanced at his watch. "It's three in the morning, can't it wait?"

"Do you think I was here if it could wait?" was Yoruichi's answer. "Come with me. Quietly."

Shinji massaged his stiff neck.

"But maybe put on some other clothes first. You reek."

He threw the cushion at the cat, but obliged and briefly disappeared to change his shirt.

Shinji could be incredibly quiet if he wanted to. So after ensuring the rest was sleeping still, he grabbed his coat and his shoes, put it on and followed Yoruichi outside. His zanpakuto came along as well; just in case. He wasn't completely defenseless without it, but the reason for Yoruichi visiting him in the middle of the night couldn't be a happy one.

"Urahara's store?" he asked.

"Yes. Immediately, please. I'll lift along."

They arrived about five minutes later, without any interferences of patrolling shinigami or Hollows on the loose. Tessai led them inside.

"What's this about, Kisuke?" he questioned once he got to the living room. Kisuke had completely shed his cheery façade for now and looked almost remorseful, if Shinji had to give it a name. Yoruichi looked tired but determined, and Tessai was as unreadable as ever, and promptly left to prepare them some tea.

"It's as I feared," Urahara said. "Aizen took the hougyoku."

"So the plan completely failed?"

"They did rescue the girl," Yoruichi said.

Shinji made a noise of disapproval. "I can't really make myself to care about some girl. What about Aizen?"

Tessai entered the room as well. Yoruichi reached out to snag a cup from the tray Tessai was carrying and closed her eyes.

"He openly betrayed the Gotei 13 along with two other captains," she replied. "You know them well. Ichimaru Gin and Tousen Kaname."

"Wouldn't say well. But I know their names. Of course. I'm not surprised… so where'd they go?"

Tessai handed out the rest of the cups and took a seat himself. "Hueco Mundo."

"Ah. Figures."

This wasn't good news. Then again, it rarely was when Aizen was involved. He hadn't dared hoping that everything would go according to Kisuke's plan. It again begged the question why Kisuke hadn't tried to get rid of that hougyoku earlier; in a less risky way. He didn't know about the details, but hiding the thing in a shinigami's soul didn't sound like Kisuke's most genius ideas.

Not for the first time this summer he had wished Kisuke had served him something stronger than tea.

Shinji looked up; something in the shadows had caught his attention. Kisuke noticed his movements and looked also.

"Oh, right. I thought it was best not to mention… I don't think you would have come otherwise. Sorry, Hirako-san."

He clenched his teeth. He had recognised them; hell butterflies.

"You're not sorry at all, are you?"

"No."

He downed the rest of his tea. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get any more sleep for the rest of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

What an awkward situation. Not even Tessai, for his tea and all his politeness could get rid of some of the tension. Urahara's grinning and slightly conspiratory face made it only worse.

No less than three shinigami had joined the room. Shinji only really knew one of them; Kyoraku Shunsui, Captain of the Eighth Division. He had to admit it was rather nice to see he was still around. Coincidentally, he was also the only newcomer who looked even remotely friendly. The female captain - Second Squad - was casting dark looks at everyone but Yoruichi and the woman next to Kyoraku looked as if she didn't want to be here. Which probably was the case; she was wearing the emblem of Kyoraku's Division. He probably dragged her along. Strangely enough, she bore a resemblance to Lisa.

"Shinji, we are not here to take you in," Kyoraku said. "Please take that hand off your sword."

With great reluctance he did so. Looking closer, he noted he was the only person armed with their zanpakuto and instantly felt better about the whole ordeal. That also explained why the the two female shinigami were looking at him warily, he guessed.

"Then why are you here? Saying sorry on behalf of Central Forty-Six? That's a bit late, ain't it?"

Kyoraku winced. "Not exactly. I don't think they would if they could… but as it stands, the entire Central is murdered. We were played."

"You've been played for a long time," Shinji scoffed.

He didn't even take much glee in seeing the slightly guilty faces of the shinigami. It wasn't surprising that Aizen had kept his fake mask on for so long; he wasn't entirely sure when he began to suspect Aizen for not being what he seemed. He had been his lieutenant for quite a while, but it had started before that. It just had been such a long time ago; maybe even before Aizen entered his division. Maybe even way back in the academy. He wasn't sure; Aizen had felt _off_ for as long as he could remember. There had been something about him. And much to Shinji's frustration, he had never slipped up.

Aizen didn't get caught; he was sure of that. He openly chose to betray the Gotei Thirteen. It had been deliberate.

"Before we go any further, who are you two? Makes the conversation a little easier an' all."

Again it was Kyoraku who spoke for them. He placed a hand on the shoulder of the woman next to him.

"This is my Nanao-chan, my current lieutenant. I trust her. What we'll discuss tonight won't leave this room."

"Ise Nanao," his lieutenant interrupted, emphasising on her family name.

"Captain Soi Fon," the other woman said brusquely. "Do address me as such. I'm here because Yoruichi asked me." She refused to even look into Urahara's direction.

Shinji's eyebrows shot up. O-kay.

Urahara cleared his throat and waved into the direction of Shinji. "This is - "

"We know," Soi Fon snapped. Then, in a someone calmer voice: "Captain Kyoraku filled us in. Now, we're here to discuss Aizen. Get on with it."

Clearly there was no love lost between Soi Fon - excuse him, _Captain_ Soi Fon and Urahara Kisuke.

"Yes. Aizen Sousuke. One of the reasons why Aizen was able to deceive the entirety of Seireitei and leave without a scratch with two other captains… was due to the fact that it is divided. Especially the Gotei Thirteen. Right, Yoruichi-san?"

"Yes," Yoruichi confirmed. "I've seen captains and lieutenants fighting each other. Ichigo just knocked everyone down. Kyoraku here with a few others actually helped to stop the execution. Eh. It was a mess and Aizen took advantage of it. Or rather, orchestrated it."

"Well, it didn't feel right to let Rukia be executed. But you don't even the half of it," Kyoraku said. "We don't know the half of it, probably. He feigned innocence by faking his own death. Sadly we didn't realise it had been him until the very end."

"It was still not your place to do so!" Soi Fon said.

"With Aizen in mind, do you still think it was right to uphold the law, even if he gave the orders to execute her in the first place?"

"It is still an offence to break it! You should be ashamed."

"Knock it off. We talked about this," Yoruichi said, flicking Soi Fon's hair playfully. Soi Fon did shut up after casting a look in Yoruichi's direction and instead occupied herself with the tea that had been handed out to them.

Shinji scowled. He already lost track of what had been going on there. They weren't telling him everything, that was for sure. Stopping the sokyoku execution? He had never seen it in action, but he knew that was a difficult, if not impossible feat. Even without taking Aizen into account, this story didn't entirely add up. What exactly had happened in the Soul Society? Whatever it was, Yoruichi and her human group had shaken it up quite a bit.

"Seriously? Ya think there was nothing suspicious about it when we essentially got sentenced to death? Banishing Kisuke for the hell of it 'cause he had figured out what Aizen was actually doing? Banishing Tessai for helping?"

"I can see it," Soi Fon said sharply.

"Hush, Soi Fon. Kisuke has saved their lives. He didn't experiment on them."

She glowered at Urahara.

"It's not that I don't regret it, Shinji," Kyoraku said when the room had turned relatively quiet. Tessai refilled their cups and took away those that had grown cold.

"That night - I saw Sousuke. Whether that was real or not, I don't know, but my statement has helped condemn you and the rest. There was a lot of evidence against Urahara Kisuke and we weren't entirely sure how… sane you were that night. I understand you got stabilised, but there was a fair chance you had lost your capabilities to think at all. You could've been a dangerous threat to the Soul Society."

"Yeah, thanks for the compliment," Shinji drawled, unable to completely filter the sarcasm out of his voice.

But much to his annoyance, Kyoraku was right. It was only natural to suspect the actual science department when such experiments were involved. Add to that that Kisuke actually had researched the same subjects and how Aizen had had a man who acted as his doppelganger for four entire weeks… Aizen's alibi had been solid.

He couldn't blame Kyoraku. Not really.

"So, Aizen betrayed you too. Nice to see we're all on the same page. Now what? You here to invite us back or somethin'? 'Cause I'm sure that'll go over well."

He saw Kyoraku glancing at his lieutenant. Hm. Apparently not.

The lieutenant coughed. "We're not here with Captain-Commander's permission and your sentences are not being reconsidered. Instead we are ordered to prepare so we are ready when Aizen moves. The Captain-Commander wants to do it alone."

A slight grin appeared on Shinji's face. "You don't agree."

To his surprise, the lieutenant seemed to be slightly embarrassed at defying Yamamoto's orders, for she reddened enough to be noticeable in the dimlit room.

"I believe we have a better chance if we work together."

"How sweet," he replied. "What makes ya think I'll help?"

"Come now, Shinji," said Kyoraku, soothing it over. "That doesn't sound like the man I used to know."

"A lot can happen in a hundred years."

Kyoraku chuckled. "I don't believe you changed all that much."

Shinji was disgruntled. Not in the least place because his old colleague was right. Again. Their strength would lie in numbers. It had to do with Aizen, after all. That was no one to take on with just the eight of them, not even if you included Yoruichi, Kisuke and Tessai. Gin and Tousen would be easy to handle, but it was Aizen's sword that was the problem.

He narrowed his eyes at Kyoraku. "You've got a plan, don't ya?"

Kyoraku smiled slightly. "We need your cooperation… secretly. No doubt Aizen will be watching us. We need him to think we work against each other, not with."

Shinji crossed his arms. "Working with shinigami? You must be out of your mind."

"That attitude is exactly why he won't expect it," Kisuke said, a little too cheerfully.

He rubbed his neck. "Listen, Kisuke. They're mad enough at you for betraying them. If I bring this plan to the table I'm not sure how they'll take it, but I doubt they'll be happy about it. They won't be willing to help."

"Betrayal?" Kisuke was feigning surprise. "Don't you think that's a little…"

"That's how it felt to them. I've gotta say no. They'll never agree to this."

"Ah, but we will have the best chance if we do work together - "

"I _know_ that, but I'll never get them to see it that way. And I ain't sure for myself either. There's a difference between knowing what you should do and actually - "

"Enough of this!"

Soi Fon had gotten up and was now looking rather fed up. She pointed a finger at Shinji. "You. They're asking you and only you. Yes or no?"

Having to make a decision in the spur of a moment that included working with people he didn't know or trust - it wasn't like a walk in the park. They weren't talking nonsense; of course not. They were deceived, not stupid. If they wanted to have any chance at taking Aizen down, they had to work together. Shinji's group couldn't do it on his own, he was sure of that. And hearing how easy it apparently had been for Aizen to openly defy the entire Gotei Thirteen and leaving with everything he wanted - the Gotei Thirteen wasn't up to this task, either.

But working together? After being tossed aside so easily and hunted for at least the first thirty years they had been on the run? On top of that, none of it had been their fault. Maybe his; but never the others. He could have prevented it all; the could not.

Urgh. He didn't like the idea; but what he felt wasn't important. This was the better option for all of them, even if they were going to be mad about it afterwards.

"I don't want the others to know. You don't involve them, you hear?"

Kisuke grinned widely. "That depends on your skill to keep things a secret, Hirako-san. But I doubt you'll have any difficulty with that."

"I've got just one question for ya," he said. "In what way are we going to work together?"

"As of now? Just sharing information. That's it. No dirty jobs, I promise!"

Shinji twirled the tea in his cup. "Then yes. Count me in. First thing I wanna know about is that human shinigami human kid. How's he even alive?"

Urahara adjusted his hat, failed to look more menacing - if that had been his intention - and tapped a few times on the table. One of these days Shinji was going to tell him off on his stupid theatrics. He was just overplaying it.

"Alright! Gather around, everyone. I've got a nice little story to tell about Kurosaki Ichigo."

* * *

The smell of another deliciously made breakfast greeted him even beyond the shut door. Yuzu really had become a great cook. It managed to make him hungry even if he wasn't. He was about to step into the kitchen, but lingered when his daughters starting to talk about him.

"Don't you think dad is acting weird lately?"

"Eh, how so?"

"He's being different somehow."

"Really?! He might be ill!"

"Come on, Yuzu. He's _never_ ill. It's something else."

What? Not for the first time, Karin was questioning his behaviour when she thought he wasn't around. It was odd how she kept doing that; almost as if she _knew_. It wasn't possible - she wouldn't be able to feel the spiritual power at all. Still, it was as if she had become aware of the change that had come over him.

It was time to teach his daughters he was still his old self. He quietly opened the door, spotted his son at the kitchen table and launched himself into a surprise attack, out to deliver a formidable kick to his chin.

Ichigo dodged. He had become a lot faster since he came back from the Soul Society, he noted, while he ended up in a heap on the floor.

"You've improved, Ichigo!" he said, getting up quickly. He accepted a cup of coffee from Yuzu and took his seat.

His son let out an exasperated sigh. "He's the same old man as always, Karin."

"Ah! Were you worried about me? I have such _wonderful_ daughters who care about - "

"Shut up," said Karin.

Yuzu smiled. "See? He's fine!"

The slightly confused look of Ichigo had not gone unnoticed, however. Nor had Karin's pensive face.

* * *

Yoruichi was lifting along on Soi Fons shoulder as the three shinigami returned. Although they were using the official ways of transport they landed safely behind the barracks of the Second Division, unable to be seen by anyone. Yoruichi stretched her legs, jumped and landed on the grass.

"Isn't it risky to use the hell butterflies?" she asked, directing her question to Kyoraku.

"No, no. Soul Society is in a bit of a chaos and Central Forty-Six has not yet been replaced. We won't be found out. Ukitake is covering for us."

"Heh." For a moment she was silent, taking in the familiar surroundings. In a fast-changing world as the World of the Living, it was suddenly strange to see how barely anything had changed in the past hundred years. Strange, but comforting.

"Speaking of Ukitake, I heard he broke into my clan's vault."

Kyoraku gave her a charming smile. "That's not entirely the case. The artefact was unmistakingly from the Shihouin clan, but it was already in Ukitake's possession."

"Strange. I don't remember giving him that shield."

"Well," began Kyoraku, looking a little less relaxed, "I suppose another clan member must have done so."

"Uh-huh."

They left the grounds of the Second Division, leaving Soi Fon behind.

"Say, Yoruichi."

"Hm?"

"Have you come all this way to lecture us about stealing?"

She laughed. "So you admit it? Don't sweat it, it's fine." She briefly looked at Kyoraku's lieutenant, not entirely sure if she could trust her as much as she trusted the two captains. She decided she didn't. "There's something else I have to take care of."

With that she dashed off, reduced to a mere shadow to anyone who wasn't paying great attention. It was quite busy in the streets of Seireitei, but with the mess they had left behind it was expected. The shinigami had started to repair the buildings, but it was nowhere near finished; there was debris everywhere and there were still cracks in the road. She jumped on top of the newly rebuilt support beams to get on top of the roofs.

The Fifth looked fairly deserted when she passed it. The Fourth however was still crowded with people. There had been quite a few casualties, ranging from relatively unharmed to stab wounds in the chest. And some deaths, although there had been rumours the ryoka nor Aizen had done this. Of course Ichigo hadn't; and she couldn't imagine any of the others to be capable to deliberately taking a life.

She rushed past the Twelfth - a lot of people up at this hour, still - and snuck onto the grounds of the Thirteenth. From there she navigated through the streets, avoiding the few shinigami still wandering around.

Seireitei was as easy to leave as it was to invade if you didn't have official permission, but lucky for her, it was also quite in shambles still. Sure, the security had become tighter, but a cat was not as noticeable as say, her face. People would recognise her from hearsay and story alone.

Perhaps it had been smarter to go via Kisuke's senkaimon after all; at least that would've brought her a lot closer to where she needed to be. However, this way she could really check how Seireitei was faring. Sure, they had not killed her on the spot and had let her and the humans walk wherever they wanted - within reason - but there was no doubt about it that the Twelfth Division had monitored their movements wherever they went.

It had seemed Seireitei had picked up the pace quite well while they were there; but as she was looking at it now, it seemed a lot worse. Physically most people were fine. But Lieutenant Ise had told her that quite a few people got hurt nevertheless, especially some of her rank. If, hypothetically, Aizen would chose to attack them this soon, Soul Society wouldn't stand a chance.

She flash stepped past the buildings and grinned when she caught sight of the gate. Luck was with her tonight; the gate was open. The guardian of the gate was having a conversation with the Seventh Company captain from the looks of it and neither of them paid it any mind when she dashed through.

(She could feel the captain's eyes on her body, but there had been no further consequences.)

It was deserted in this Rukongai district as well; apart from it being night, some of the people who were awake were clearly intimidated by the shinigami on the other side of the gate, for they were hovering in the shadows and the safety of their houses.

She went straight to the elder's house.

* * *

Shinji had draped himself over the couch, trying to nap in the midst of all the noise. Perhaps it would have been a better idea if he had just gone to bed, but that would only arise suspicion. He groaned at the loud conversation between Rose and Aikawa Love and tried to block it out by putting a pillow on top of his face.

It didn't seem to help all that much.

"Not sure why you even bother hiding it," said Lisa's dry voice, too close for comfort. He looked aside and saw Lisa's face only centimeters away from his own. He turned around to face the couch instead.

"We all know you've been visiting Urahara last night," Lisa continued. She sat down on the armrest, took the pillow and tossed it away.

"So you're just going to have to tell us what he wants."

"Am still thinking." he murmured. Which was the truth, really; he hardly had time to digest all the information, let alone how and what he was going to tell the rest of their group.

He squeaked when he got gripped by his collar and re-acquainted with first Hiyori's freckles on her face, then her shoe.

She scoffed at him.

"What's that? Are ya still thinking? You even sound like him! You're driving me mad."

"Dammit, Hiyori! You're not giving me time!"

By now, Rose and Love had noticed the commotion on the couch and joined as well. Rose leant over.

"Say, what is this about?"

"Shinji has something to tell us," Lisa announced loudly.

He redid his tie and sighed, walking away from the couch. He could really do with a glass of water. Or a nap. He was fairly sure he wasn't going to get the latter, though.

"First of all, I'm gonna wait until the rest is back. But yeah - Lisa's right. I've got something to share." He grinned widely. "Apparently there is someone who could turn a battle with Aizen into our favour, and we're gonna get our hands on him."


	5. Chapter 5

Hirako Shinji recapped everything that was said about the boy and his Soul Society quest last night - as much as he could remember and going in great detail about Aizen's open defection. He was only met with frowns and scowls and one or two contemplative and confused looks. The other Visored had not been pleased with the information he had given them; not in the least place because it sounded as if Shinji was pulling their leg and wasting their time. It did sound like a fantastical tale. He knew that. He had had difficulty believing it too; he still had, to some degree. It was just one of those cases where one had to see in order to believe.

It was only after confirmation of four people of whom he trusted at least two of them that he took the information for being legit. Yoruichi had gone with them, after all. He had had not as much contact with Yoruichi as he had with Kisuke, but he trusted her just as much. She was part of the reason they were still alive; that made it difficult not to trust her.

"I know it's hard to believe," he just said after he had told the story and was only met with silence. "But it's true."

"Yeah, right!" scoffed Hiyori, who had always been one of the more vocal of the group. She crossed her arms. "You're not making any sense at all."

Rose only glanced at him. "You have got to admit Shinji, it does sound a little too good to be true."

Shinji let out a sigh and leant forward, elbows on the table. He had insisted on a semi proper meeting for once that didn't involve them sitting wherever they wanted. It stopped them from quietly sneaking away and to leave as they pleased. He needed their undivided attention. He certainly had gotten their attention, but not in the way he would have liked. At least a few of them looked as if he had gotten mad, and the rest was too polite and probably hid the same thought behind a carefully crafted expression.

"Look," he began. "I won't ask you to believe the story about him wreckin' up the Soul Society. I can't picture a bunch of humans doing that either. But there's one thing we've got to admit. We can't deny his monstrous spiritual energy. Surely you've noticed. It's again spreading all over the place. He's also human, so he doesn't have any sort of tie to the Soul Society."

"You don't know that," Kensei interrupted. He had been silent so far, with his arms folded on top of each other, not even touching the drink that had been prepared for him.

"Huh?" That was Mashiro. As usual, she latched onto the wrong details. "How do you mean? He's a shinigami, isn't he?"

Kensei grunted. "He's both."

"Huh? How can he be both?"

"He just is!"

"Eh?"

Mashiro had grabbed Kensei's arm. Where Kensei looked relatively inconspicuous, Mashiro definitely did not, with her green hair and white and orange suit; sometimes Shinji was surprised the special forces had never found them that way. Most of them blended in relatively well, but Mashiro was the exception - with Hachigen too, possibly. If the Gotei Thirteen had ever bothered to try and look for them via the human channels - the cops and such - they would've been found out a long time ago. For once Shinji found himself liking the old fashioned way of thinking. It had condemned their lives, sure, but in turn it had also saved them.

"As interesting as Kurosaki's heritage is… come on. His reiatsu has to count for something. And if you all bothered to check it out, you'd notice that it's the same as us."

Love leant back into his chair. "There's a hollow simmering in him, yes. I noticed."

"Did too! I just didn't care," said Hiyori, not wanting to be the one who didn't notice.

So far Hachigen had said nothing, and Lisa only blew a loose bit of hair out of her face.

"According to Yoruichi, he doesn't have it all under control either," continued Shinji. "We should try and get him to our side."

Hiyori looked baffled. "Why would we bother with that?"

Lisa licked her lips, her yes suddenly shining. She even sounded vaguely enthusiastic. "Because we can use him. Shinji, you said he hasn't seen his zanpakuto."

He nodded. "Yeah. That's right."

A grin started to spread over her features. "So he won't be affected."

That was the big problem with Aizen, really. Even with the effect of Shinji's zanpakuto Sakanade, which could turn a potential fight with Aizen in their favour… there was still a fair chance none of that would at all work when Kyouka Suigetsu was released. Aizen's sword, Kyouka Suigetsu was able to perform a full hypnosis to all who had seen it in its release state even once. Naturally, Aizen had showed it to as many people as he possible could.

Having this boy on their side could be a huge turnaround.

"He can be our trump card," Rose said, being scarily right on track with Shinji's thoughts.

"What? We're just going to bet everything on this random guy?" Hiyori exclaimed.

Rose shook his head. "No. The addition of him won't render us useless. However, it will be good to have someone on our side who can see things for what they really are. As long as he doesn't see Kyouka Suigetsu, we'd have an advantage."

"We need all the advantages we can get," Love agreed.

Shinji grinned. This was going better than he had imagined. He thought they'd protest more heavily or got hung up on the fact he was still a shinigami, even… if he really wasn't. He was human, who just happened to be a shinigami. He was nothing the Gotei Thirteen stood for. If anything, if he believed everything that had been said, he had practically been trying to toppling over everything of significance in the Soul Society. And succeeded in doing half of that, too. Even managed to turn captains to his side; even before Aizen's betrayal. The boy would be a great asset to slaying Aizen down.

Besides, it would be such a waste to let him get consumed by his hollow. If they helped him, he'd probably feel he owed them in return - if that story with the Kuchiki was anything to go by. Shinji could work with that.

"I agree with Shinji-san," Hachigen suddenly spoke up.

"Not you too, Hachi," Hiyori muttered. "He's friends with the shinigami! How do you know he won't turn us over?"

Shinji pulled softly at her pigtails. "Nah. He won't. From what I've heard that's not the kinda guy he is."

She didn't appreciate the gesture at all and grabbed a fistful of his hair, pulling him hard towards her.

"Don't touch my hair, baldy," she hissed in his ear and pulled once again for good measure, before letting him go. She huffed. "I wanna test him first. To see if he's really like you're saying he is. If he's not, we're not gonna teach him."

She stared at all of them, hard, as if she was challenging them to dare and suggest something else.

Shinji rubbed his head slightly; she had managed to get ahold of some of his neck hairs and that had been more painful than he wanted to admit. Yet, if he had managed to sway Hiyori over to his side - even if she wanted to test him beforehand, this was better than he could have hoped for.

He grinned widely. "Deal. I'll get him to come here and you can test him out all you want, Hiyori."

* * *

He was aware of how often he had traveled to Urahara Shoten in such a short time. Although he didn't believe it would matter at all whether he went straight towards the store or not - if Aizen ever honed in on him, he wouldn't be fooled by taking other routes - but it did ease his mind. So, this time he took a detour.

Kurosaki Ichigo's encounter with Aizen was bothering him. He wasn't certain how much the story of the boy held true. He didn't think he would be lying - from what he had heard so far, Ichigo was too straightforward to tell a believable lie. But after hearing the summary of his adventures it wasn't impossible that he wasn't a hundred percent sane and conscious. Yoruichi had confirmed he had been close to dying at least once and op on top of that momentarily lost control of the Hollow inside of him.

Maybe, hopefully, Ichigo's mind had started to play tricks on the boy. Maybe he misinterpreted it. Shinji just didn't want everything to be true. Having to realise that Aizen had outwitted Urahara _again_ didn't do much good for his mental health.

And if he had bested him this time, it wasn't a far leap to assume that Aizen knew they had survived. He might've been followed for a long time; someone could be following him right now. The different route he was taking would be pointless in that case.

Still, even if that was so, he wasn't going to make it easy for them.

Deliberately avoiding the area where Ichigo currently was located he went to a crowded shopping center and waited until Ichigo's reiatsu passed by. It seemed he was just leaving Urahara's store, then; there wasn't anything else in that neighbourhood that could be of interest to anyone, let alone a teenage boy.

A few minutes later he stepped into the store, casually stepping over a walking and talking plush lion.

Hang on. What.

Before he could wonder what the hell that was about and why one of Urahara's experiments was wandering around, Urahara's hand had snagged the lion by its head. With his other hand he blocked its eyes and mouth.

"Oh my, I believe Kurosaki-san forgot to take his belongings with him. I will be right back!"

With that he walked to the front of the shop, opened the door and chucked the lion out on the street with a big and fake smile. The lion smacked on the ground, got on its cotton stuffed feet and turned to face them. (Shinji, curious to know what the commotion was about, had not complied to Urahara's request to wait and had followed them.)

Before it could say anything, Urahara waved with his fan towards it and smiled a little wider.

"I trust you can find your way back to his house!"

With that he closed the door and looked at Shinji.

"I'm not even gonna ask what was going on there," he just said.

"Good!" Urahara narrowed his eyes slightly and sent him a calculated look. He beckoned for Shinji to come with him and brought him to a more private room. Shinji eyed unpacked shipment warily, half and half expecting more plush surprises.

"And?"

"They only want to train him if he can prove his strength," he replied. "So that's not gonna be an issue."

"Indeed it won't." Urahara's expression betrayed nothing, but Shinji knew he was pleased with the outcome. It had betrayed him in his voice and the way he smoothened out the fabric in his overcoat.

"Do they suspect anything?"

Shinji shook his head. "Nah." His attention was momentarily lost when a little machine made a strange bubbling noise. "The only one who could have sensed something was Hachi, and he's not one to question strange things happening at your store. The rest of us aren't so great at, err, finding out kidou things."

"The art of properly analysing and identifying experimental kidou could work in your favour," Urahara mumbled.

Shinji snorted. "I'll leave that to Hachi. I'll just do my thing."

"Hm. By the way, if he does ask - "

"I'll deal with that," he interrupted. "I'll say Tessai needed to make a barrier for Ichigo. His reiatsu has gone completely wild at times. He'll buy it." It had gotten quite crazy just half an hour ago; what exactly had Urahara being doing? There hadn't been any Hollows and from what he heard, he had become about best friends with half the Gotei Thirteen.

The machine next to him bubbled again. Shinji stretched his limbs and curiously looked around the room now. With all the little machines, contraptions and paper scattered everywhere it was a lab of some sorts, although it was evident that Urahara was trying to make do. It looked nowhere near as impressive as it had been when he was still Twelfth Division's captain and has access to everything he had made - as well as other people's creations. Not that that meant anything; it _was_ Urahara Kisuke. He was certain the man would be able to build a time machine with just a few scraps and superglue.

From the looks of it, there were some modern human equipment as well, although some were modified beyond immediate recognition. He idly wondered why there was a mangled coat hanger stuck on top of a microscope.

Urahara threw a small object at him, which he instinctively caught without even thinking. He opened his hands and held it up questioningly.

"What are ya givin' me a book for?"

"It's not a book, really - it's a notebook," Urahara amended. "I've written down Kurosaki's contact information."

Shinji opened it and flipped through it. With exception of the first twenty pages or so it was empty. It did look slightly battered though, as if it had gotten caught in a spar or two and had a nasty run-in with a cup of tea. He could decipher at least two different types of handwriting. Urahara's strokes were distinctive.

"You want me to take notes," he said, reading an entry that was marked as '28th of July.'

"I'd like to keep an eye on how his training progresses, yes," Urahara confirmed with a sly smile. "He managed to get his sword into a _bankai_ release state in less than three days. I'm thrilled to see how fast he'll pick up your… unique skillset when it come to the hollow powers he has."

Above all, Urahara was still a scientist and Ichigo was an anomaly. Barely irresistible.

Shinji stuck the small notebook in his backpocket.

"You've got my word. Will you share it with them?"

The last part of his question was barely inaudible when something started to beep loudly. Urahara twirled around to turn off a few machines.

"Only those who visited," Urahara replied. Something was glinting in his eye; something sharp. "Nothing will reach the Captain-Commander's ears. Or Kurotsuchi's for that matter."

Shinji scowled at the mental image of Kurotsuchi Mayuri being absolutely thrilled to dissect something peculiar and unresearched. If they ever made it back to the Soul Society, he knew who he was going to avoid.

"That's acceptable, I suppose. Is Yoruichi back yet?"

One of Urahara's machines beeped again, despite being turned off.

"It'll likely be a few days before she returns," he said, casting a glance at the offending machine. "I'll be in touch with you, Hirako-san."

* * *

Urahara's prediction had not been far from the truth; she had spent a full day in Rukongai and had not come closer to her goal yet. She had meant to only stop by the elder briefly, but he had wanted to talk with her about some urgent matter instead. Yoruichi had not been able to refuse.

She moved quickly through the dusty streets now and saw with her own eyes what the elder had meant. It had been extremely dry lately. Even water had become a luxury for its residents. It didn't matter whether you were in district eighty or one. The only advantage of being in district one was that you were perhaps just rich enough to afford the current prices of a unit of water - if you managed to obtain one in the first place.

There were long rows in front of the water vendors and it had turned into some kind of auction.

The river stood low and looked less clear than it usually was. People were drinking from it, but it wasn't recommended to do so; there had already been cases reported where they had become ill.

For the water supply to dwindle down like that and spirits becoming ill… it was strange. Apart from stingy shopkeepers water had never been a problem to acquire.

If she wasn't in a hurry, she would have let herself be persuaded to find out the cause herself, but as things stood she simply didn't have time. She had promised the elder to brief it forward to the Gotei Thirteen. Jidanbo's request hadn't done much, but a whisper in the right ear might at least start an investigation.

Yoruichi knew exactly in which ear to whisper.

As of now she was whispering into a recording device that was tied around her wrist.

"2-F," she muttered, slipping through the invisible barrier. "Outer barrier is still up and building is sealed."

She darted around the building, found herself a door and started to count the windows left from it. As her eyes landed on the sixth window she came closer, hesitating to touch the building itself.

"Going to access it now." She laid a hand on the air that prevented her from going inside and sent her spiritual pressure into the air. The edges around her hand started to glow softly. Its light seemed static, but was pulsating in subtle, rapid waves too fast to follow.

The second barrier made way. She breathed out, slowly. The reiatsu authorisation still worked, then. That meant he couldn't have gone inside.

Yoruichi climbed inside through the window and landed soundlessly on the floor. It was only one room and it wasn't all that big; the bookcases occupied about every single bit of free wall space. This was not so much as one of Kisuke's old labs as it had been a place to freely store any data he had discovered during his early research.

"Granted access," she said softly. "Authorisation barrier still in place."

Urahara Kisuke had always been trying to discover his own boundaries of what his mind could come up with, ever since a young age. They had thought that the Shihouin clan didn't really like it if they kept Kisuke's research lingering about. Most of his early research wasn't anything compared to his later strokes of genius - to the point of _unsettling_ genius when it came to the hogyoku, but they still had thought to not take any chances.

Aizen had gotten his hands on some of Kisuke's research, that they knew, but they weren't sure of how much. Yoruichi had cleared five places so far; one had had the barrier destroyed and remade, but it hadn't fooled her. That was Aizen's reiatsu that had clung to it. An involuntary handprint.

It was completely devoid of Aizen's influence here, yet she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something amiss. Someone _had_ been here recently. She herself had not been here in decades and she was sure only she, Kisuke and Tessai had entry to these buildings. Anyone else trying to access it would have to dismantle the barriers and she would have known. And yet. She could feel it. Something was not as it should be, she just didn't know what that was.

She brought her wrist to her mouth before changing her mind. Better not to say anything. Instead she assumed a battle stance, silently going over the available points of entry. If someone was here, they were not going to get past Shihouin Yoruichi.

* * *

He supposed it was a special kind of skillset when he could identify his lieutenants footsteps on the floorboards by just hearing. Then again, there weren't many who would approach him while he lied down on the floor in the captain's room. Ah, good old Ise Nanao. Never afraid to whack some sense and work spirit into him, as some called it.

He wasn't really sleeping. It did however give him time to think.

"Captain," she began.

He pushed up his hat in surprise. She didn't sound as stern as usual.

"Something wrong, Nanao-chan?"

She stared down at him, but it wasn't the kind of look he was used to seeing. He got up, dusted himself off and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What is it?"

Her gaze shifted to the floorboards instead. "I didn't know him well, but seeing Hirako…" She glanced at him again. "Do you think it means Lisa is still alive?"

He permitted himself a smile. "It must be. But if it eases your mind off things, I'll ask him next time."

She nodded. "Thanks."

It was rare to see her like this; for a moment it sharply reminded him of that small girl asking where Lisa had gone off to. He had been a captain for a long time now, but having to tell that little girl what had happened to Lisa had been one of the more difficult moments of captaincy.

He hadn't been able to fully console her back then.

Kyoraku gripped her shoulder lightly. "Trust me. She'll be fine."


End file.
